Chapter 296
July 15, 1870. | 16 Stat., 335.

An Act making appropriations for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations with various Indian tribes for the year ending June thirty, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

For the purpose of refunding to the Winnebago Indians the amount taken from their tribal funds to pay the expenses of their removal from Minnesota, the sum of two hundred and thirty-two thousand three hundred and forty-five dollars and ninety-nine cents, of which two hundred thousand dollars shall be placed to the credit of these Indians upon the books of the treasury, on which shall be allowed five per cent. per annum, the income therefrom to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, for the erection of houses, the improvement of their allotments of lands, the purchase of stock, agricultural implements, seeds, and other beneficial purposes.

SEC. 9

And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and hereby is, directed to cause to be investigated and to determine the claims of certain Indians of the Winnebago tribe now lawfully residing in the State of Minnesota; to issue patents without the right of alienation to those of them whom he shall find to be entitled thereto for the lands heretofore allotted to them in severalty, or which may have been designated by them for allotment, under the provisions of the treaty ratified March sixteen eighteen hundred and sixty-one, or of an act entitled An act for the removal of the Winnebago Indians, and for the sale of their reservation in Minnesota for their benefit approved February twenty-one, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and

which may not have been sold or disposed of by the United States; and in case of such sale, then such land as may be hereafter designated by them for allotment as aforesaid out of any unsold lands within the limits of said Winnebago reservation in Minnesota, and should it be impracticable to make such allotments within the limits of said reservation on good agricultural lands, then they may be made on any public lands of the United States subject to sale at private entry within the State of Minnesota. And the said Winnebago Indians, and all others being members of said tribe lawfully residing in the State of Minnesota, shall hereafter be entitled to receive their pro rata distributive proportion of all annuities in goods, money, or property, and any other moneys to which said tribe is or may be entitled under any law or treaty now in force, at their homes in Minnesota, the same as though they had removed West and settled with the Western Winnebagoes.

SEC. 10

And be it further enacted, That if at any time hereafter any of the said Indians shall desire to become citizens of the United States they shall make application to the judge of the district court of the United States for the district of Minnesota, and in open court make the same proof and take the same oath of allegiance as is provided by law for the naturalization of aliens, and shall also make proof to the satisfaction of said court that they are sufficiently intelligent and prudent to control their affairs and interests; that the[y] have adopted the habits of civilized life and have for at least five years previous thereto been able to support themselves and families; whereupon they shall be declared by said court to be citizens of the United States, which declaration shall be entered of record, and a certificate thereof given to said party. On the presentation of the said certificate to the Secretary of the Interior, with satisfactory proof of identity, he may at the request of such person or persons cause the land severally held by them to be conveyed to them by patent in fee simple, with power of alienation, and may at the same time cause to be paid to them their proportion of all the moneys and effects of said tribe, held in trust by or under the provisions of any treaty or law of the United States. And on such patents being issued, and such payments ordered to be made, such person shall cease to be members of said tribe, and thereafter the lands so patented to them shall be subject to levy, taxation, and sale, in like manner with the property of other citizens.